Monday

Other Uses for Rubbing Alcohol


Rubbing alcohol has traditionally been used externally to relieve muscle and joint pain and as a disinfectant to clean things. While we are happy to include it in our medicine cabinet for those occasions this amazing product has many more uses than that. The following is a list culled from the internet and books I have at home illustrating the multiple uses of this versatile concoction.

Sterilize items, such as thermometers.

Clean your printer and VCR heads.

Use it as a disinfectant on doorknobs, toys, in the bathroom, kitchen, etc.

Apply to help dry up a cold sore.

Clean windows and other household appliances when mixed with vinegar and baking soda.

Many lists mention using it as an antiseptic for wounds, but if you have ever experienced that pain before hopefully you switched to using the much more effective and less painful hydrogen peroxide.

Use it to get grease out of a carpet by applying it to a rag and lightly rubbing the grease stain.

Use it to treat athlete's foot.

Clean your phone with it.

Remove ink stains from your clothes. Did you ever pull one of those nerd moves and put your pen in your shirt pocket without the cap on? Try soaking the spot in rubbing alcohol for a couple of minutes before washing it.

Use it to shine up chrome appliances and bathroom fixtures.

Spray your car windows before a frost and then just wipe the frost away.

Remove ticks. Dip a q-tip in rubbing alcohol, dab it on the tick and pull it off.

I read this summer somewhere to spray it on your garden and outdoor plants to get rid of bugs without harming the plants. I am going to test that one out on a plant or two next spring.

Wash windows with it and spray onto mirrors to keep from fogging.

Remove black marks from shoes and grease from wall paper.

Use it to remove sticky stuff from your hands, such as honey or tree sap.

Dab it on mosquito bites to relive the itching and dry out the bites.

One list included using it to dissolve marijuana tar residue ("resin") from smoking paraphernalia. Wow, man!

Eliminate fruit flies in your kitchen by spraying them with rubbing alcohol.

Use it to remove nail polish and permanent marker.

Clean jewelry with it.

Apply it to bruises to reduce the swelling and get rid of black and blue marks.

Going to pierce something on your body? Break out the rubbing alcohol first.

Related Reading:

Vinegar: Is There Anything It Can’t Do?

3 comments:

  1. will it clean dog urine stains off carpets?

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    Replies
    1. Yes It will and its also good for neutralizing the odor. I suggest buying 91 or 99 proof for this as it works the best.

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    2. Rubbing alcohol is also great for lice. I mean absolutely amazing. Take 91 proof rubbing alcohol, saturate hair completely with it, wait two to three minutes, then put conditioner in hair and comb out hair with lice comb. The rubbing alcohol kills them on contact...its the fastest most pain free method i have found.

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